Cumulus Support

I thought this might be of interest.

A couple of years ago I had "Lost Sensor Contact" errors with my 1080 and after battery replacements, transmitter replacements and blaming nearby power lines I finally traced it to corrosion of the contacts in the modular "butt connector" (two inline telephone jacks) I had used to extend the wiring when I relocated the wind sensor array to an 18' pole above the Stevenson Screen containing the temp sensor. Using gel-filled "bean" splices instead fixed the problem - just be aware that, at least on my Tycon Power version of the FO 1080, the color coding of the modular cord is different than what you will probably find on a commercial modular cord you buy for the extension. The extension will most likely have the red and green wires in the center per telephone standard, whereas the wind sensor array has the yellow swapped with the green.

A few days ago the "Lost Sensor Contact" error returned. I had bought a second 1080 from Tycon when troubleshooting the first instance, but this time the console connected to the PC and Cumulus in my home's office was the only one affected - the second console that now resides in the kitchen window was receiving the outside data just fine. Resolution? Moving the metal can of "spray duster" sitting next to the office's console out of the immediate area. Apparently it had been disrupting the radio signals.

Thanks for the tip. I have been experiencing many lost sensor contact errors lately in waves usually for under a half hour or so during both morning and night. No signifigant electronic devices but three walls and seventy-five feet between the transmitter and receiver so I will check for objects that may influence signal reception next.

Win7 Home Premium
Cumulus 1.9.3 build 1053
Weatherwise WS-1090-Solar @ 915mhz

Notes: Running very well for the last week or two (since install) with the occasional single Lost Contact with Sensor error but now appearing in waves that seem to end with communications restablishing without user intervention. Using ten second polling in Cumulus.

First in series: 12/07/12 10:57:43 AM : Lost sensor contact!!! // 99 entries in series
Last in series: 12/07/12 11:14:22 AM : Lost sensor contact!!!

First in series: 12/07/12 11:52:56 AM : Lost sensor contact!!! // 34 entries in series
Last in series: 12/07/12 11:58:25 AM : Lost sensor contact!!!

First in series: 12/07/12 12:07:17 PM : Lost sensor contact!!! // 33 entries in series
Last in series: 12/07/12 12:12:45 PM : Lost sensor contact!!!

First in series: 12/08/12 2:24:10 AM : Lost sensor contact!!! // 52 entries in series
Last in series: 12/08/12 2:32:49 AM : Lost sensor contact!!!

First in series: 12/09/12 1:16:09 AM : Lost sensor contact!!! // 62 entries in series
Last in series: 12/09/12 1:56:50 AM : Lost sensor contact!!!

Based on my experiences, if you are there when it happens, disconnect the console from the USB and carry it out to around 10' or so of your instruments. If outside readings return within a couple of minutes (2-3 update cycles), then you probably have an interference issue between the transmitter and the inside location of your console.

If the outside readings remain blank, check all connections carefully for corrosion. Even though my first problem was fixed by removing the butt connector between the wind instruments and the temp sensor/transmitter and splicing the wires directly, the corrosion at that location caused not just the wind speed and direction to go blank on the console, but the temperature readout did at times also. So you can't count on what is not displayed to point to the problem's location.

Since I changed my batteries I am getting the lost sensor error. How can I fix this? When I changed my batteries all the connections were good. My readout shows information in all boxes both on the software and handheld device.

If by "handheld device" you mean the station's display console, and all info fields in both it and Cumulus are filled, make sure the data seen in the console and Cumulus match. I've had occasions when the pressure was different between the two, unplugging and re-plugging the USB connection between the console and PC would get Cumulus to update to what the console read. If not, I'd shut down Cumulus, reboot the PC and reopen Cumulus to get the readings to match up.

If all data is displayed and consistent between the console and Cumulus, someone more familiar with the inner workings of Cumulus may have to explain under what conditions a "Lost Sensor Contact" error would be created. I've only seen the error when data isn't flowing between the outside transmitter and inside console.

'Lost sensor contact' is a flag that the console sets in the data area, when it hasn't seen any data from the transmitter for a certain period (I forget what that period is). Cumulus just reports that the flag is set.